Question of the Day - 18 February 2021

A lot of members of QOD ask, and ask, and ask the same question in different flavors over and over again.
It gets old very quickly.
Some of you may be asking from out of State believing Nevada is different than your own State, some are local inquirers.
Regardless the answer gets down to this.
State legislators make the Covid-19 rules.
Every business in the State has to follow the rules.
Right now the Nevada rules have restrictions that buffets do not want to follow.
Therefore every casinos buffet but one is closed, the one that is open is experimenting to see if operating under those rules allow then to still make a profit.
YES PROFIT!!!
That is the name of the game for every business.
Therefore if the Covid-19 restriction rules change to the point that casinos can make a profit then buffets will most likely return.  If not then stop asking when they will, instead call each casino you like the most and ask them when buffets will return as they are the only ones who know.

During a very recent trip to Tunica (Feb. 2021), we took part in the Gold Strike buffet. It was decidedly different than buffets of pre-Covid, but it worked. It was a big pricey, but it was all-you-can-eat. Food were served to us by workers behind the food bars. There were some times we had to wait for service. Still, it was nice to once again experience a buffet!

It's understandable due to actual covid restrictions that most buffets are closed but, not reopening?, that's another way the big guys ( mostly MGM and Caesars) are going to try to force the turist ( comon or otherwise) to spend more, yes it's the profits as allways, trying to squeze the last dollar from turists, insted of trying to make them more welcome. I just hope buffets at locals places come back, It's where I now mostly stay, I don't visit strip places, don't want to, don't have to, locals hotel-casinos are great!

Buffets (for the most part) are bargains. Half-off meal coupons are bargains. In post-pandemic Vegas, there will be no bargains. Prepare for a wave of ripoffs the likes of which have not been seen.

I half expect Clark County authorities to install tollgates on 1-15, so you have to pay $20 just to enter glamorous Sin City. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that, it might give them ideas.

I think the days of buffets at every resort are done.    In fact, I doubt you'll see more than about a half dozen buffets reopen and those that do will be penny pinching.   If they issue coupons, prices will double to compensate effectively generating the same price per customer.   Vegas will never be the same and if you came to the city for the all you can eat experience every meal, its time to find a new vacation spot.

The hotels used to be willing to take a loss on the buffets just to get people through the door in hopes they'd stay and gamble so they'd make back the money on the buffet and more.

Those days are long gone now. Each area of the hotel is its own profit center, so if it can't stand alone and make a profit, it's gone. At least the locals casinos offer some discounts to cardholders, but if the big hotels' buffets ever open again, they'll be even pricier.

Jackie you are correct.  In addition to all the COVID requirements, it is truly about "YES PROFIT!!!
That is the name of the game for every business."  COVID has given the casinos a chance to take a harder look at the buffet revenue.

Facts or facts.

I remember when the book had hotel deals. I noticed they are not gone. (Maybe they were gone last year and I did not notice.) I doubt it is a COVID thing.  I ask only because maybe I was one of the few that used them. But one of the ones I used lead me to my home Casino the El Cortez. I was thinking of branching out after a decade I noticed they were gone

If there are enough people coming back to visit Las Vegas, most hotels will be glad to open up their buffets to accommodate the crowds, especially weekends. If visitorship is slow to increase, then the buffets will just stay closed. I just believe supply and demand will dictate what happens on a case-by-case basis.

I think buffets came about in the old days as a way to keep people "on-property" so they'd gamble more there instead of going elsewhere for a meal and maybe not return. But now that gambling is a much smaller part of the casino-resort's earnings (only 30% maybe?) there is a lot less incentive to have a buffet. They can yank it out and put something on that large floorspace that generates more profits. If having a buffet results in the casino making more money they will have one, that's the only reason it's there. But I'm not sure the buffet pays for itself anymore with increased gambling revenue, and it cuts into the other dining options at the casino. You know the casino has studied this to death, what they decide to do depends on $$$.

Always make a side trip to South Point for food, when I visit Vegas. Buffets are as much a part of Vegas as slots and table games.